The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA; Chairman:
Yoshihide Munekuni) awarded the "Tokyo Motor Show 2003 Motor Sports
Grand Prize" to novelist Mitsuru Sugaya and the "Special
Prize" to the village of Kamitsue in Hita-gun, Oita Prefecture,
which helped to restore the "Autopolis" circuit in Kyushu.
The prizes were presented by JAMA Chairman Munekuni on the Special
Stage at Makuhari Messe, Chiba during a symposium on "The Motor
Sports Lifestyle" that concluded the Tokyo Motor Show on Wednesday,
November 5. Mr. Sugaya received ¥500,000 in prize money; Kamitsue, ¥300,000.
Mayor Ryunosuke Takahata accepted the prize on behalf of the village.

The "Tokyo Motor Show 2003 Motor Sports Grand Prize" is
awarded by JAMA for the first time this year. The prize was created
to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Tokyo Motor Show slated
for 2004, which dates back to the "1st All Japan Motor Show" of
1954. Recipients are "people and organizations who have contributed
to the popularization of motor sports among the general population." Racers
and teams are excluded if they are still competing professionally.
JAMA plans to continue to award the prize at each subsequent passenger
car and motorcycle show.

Chairman of the JAMA Traffic Affaires Committee headed the Selection
Committee, a group of five people of that included representatives
of the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and the Motorcycle Federation
of Japan (MFJ), author Nozomu Hayashi as an outside expert, and a director
from JAMA (with responsibility for the Tokyo Motor Show). Nominees
underwent rigorous screening before the final decision was made.

Mitsuru Sugaya, the recipient of the "Tokyo Motor Show 2003 Motor
Sports Grand Prize," was born September 20, 1950. He is currently
53 years old and is from Shizuoka Prefecture. A noted manga artist
and novelist, Mr. Sugaya has been running an on-line forum on motor
sports since well before the spread of the Internet. In October he
published the novel "Kyokujitsu no Grand Prix," a racing-oriented
historical fiction that has won wide acclaim.

The village of Kamitsue helped to rekindle Motor Sports in Kyushu
by organizing a third sector project under the leadership of the village
government and with the support of residents. The project provides
assistance for the restoration of "Autopolis," a Kyushu racing
circuit that had fallen into financial difficulties.